Workplace innovation – Sustainable work: Retaining Europe’s ageing workforce and making work more sustainable throughout the life course

On September 29, an interactive conference organised jointly by the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC), Eurofound and the Workage project, coordinated by Nottingham Trent University, will take place in the EESC in Brussels. The event will bring together representatives from business, public policy, research and social partner organisations to explore new findings from Eurofound’s Sustainable Work report and from the Workage Project’s research and interventions in two UK workplaces, as well as drawing on the EESC’s work and experience in this area.

The aim of the event is for participants to take away fresh insights and new perspectives on the practical actions required to engage and retain Europe’s ageing workforce and make work more sustainable throughout the life course. Sustainable work means achieving living and working conditions that enable people to engage in and thrive in work throughout their lives. Making work sustainable throughout the life course in this way means understanding both the requirements of work and the needs of individuals as both evolve over time.

Sustainable work, as a concept that champions the improvement of working conditions and the adaptation of work to the needs of people is an end in itself but it is also makes economic sense. By making work more sustainable, it is hoped that:

• More people can be integrated into the labour market;

• Workers are able and will wish to remain in the labour market until a later age

This seminar will look at what ingredients need to be considered for sustainable work. It will focus the role of actors and policymakers in making work sustainable. It will underline the importance of work organisation in the workplace, through quality of work and workplace innovation, based on employee involvement in improvement and development of work processes and products.

For more information about this upcoming event, please contact:

Professor Peter Totterdill: peter.totterdill@ukwon.net / +44 7887 821388

Cristina Arigho: car@eurofound.europa.eu / +353 1 204 32 11

Kelly Start: kelly.start@ntu.ac.uk / +44 115 8488126

To view the draft programme of this event please click here.